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The problem with growing sweet, juicy peaches and sun-warmed raspberries is that somewhere out
there — probably not far from your patch — an animal or two will be as tempted by the luscious
produce as you are.

Just as the blueberry ripens, just as the tomato reaches the perfect color, it can disappear,
spirited away by a hungry creature.

My husband, who is the fruit and vegetable grower in our family, spends a lot of time protecting
the crops from neighborhood animals.

He drapes grapevines in netting before birds can snag too many of those fruits. He hangs garlic
clips to deter rabbits and groundhogs from eating the soybeans and squash. He shoos squirrels
(pointlessly) from a hardy almond tree.

We lose some of our produce to the local wildlife. The Northern mockingbirds barely bother to
leave the raspberry patch when I come to pick.

We enjoy nature and watching the animals, but we would like to reap some of the fruits of our
labors.

Author Tammi Hartung understands the quest for balance, detailing her own in a new book,
The Wildlife-Friendly Vegetable Gardener: How To Grow Food in Harmony With Nature (Storey,
$16.95).

Hartung has been developing strategies for achieving harmony since 1994, when she was living on
700 acres at a Colorado arboretum.

“Because our home was located along the pathways open to visitors, (my husband’s) supervisors
asked that we not put a fence around my vegetable gardens, which had transformed our front yard,”
she writes. “My gardens were also directly in the flow of deer, raccoons, bears, coyotes and
zillions of cottontails.”

Hartung, who now owns a 5-acre organic herb farm with her husband, preaches a peaceful
co-existence with nature.

Along with offering tips for living amicably with animals, her book covers the basics of a
successful organic garden, from developing healthy soil to welcoming pollinators.

But I was most interested in her methods for producing food crops without losing too much to the
animals.

Among the key tips:

• Pay attention to what’s going on in the garden. Knowing what’s happening helps the gardener
identify what needs to be done.

Watching might also clear up misperceptions. When Hartung saw birds in her lettuce patch, she
assumed they were eating the greens.

She discovered later that the birds were picking off ants.

• Know when to intervene. Not all insects are bad. Some are pollinators. Some are predators. And
some might attract birds that will help police the other insects in the garden.